THE INAUGURAL DAM ANSWERS MAILBAG brought to you by Local Boyz

This is the very first ever entry in our new weekly-ish series where we answer your questions about all things, not just Oregon State (but mostly Oregon State). Keep a lookout for our next call for questions coming later in the week and check below to see if we answered one of yours!

Author’s note: Local Boyz has yet to officially sponsor this weekly mailbag *yet*, but if anyone knows any of the Boyz to contact for this we would appreciate the heads up.

Travis Johannes: This is not okay, Mary, and you should immediately cease contact with this person and remove them from your circle of trust. There is enough negativity in the world; there is no need to add that to your life. If you need anything just let us at BTD know and we are here for you.

What are the chances that all of my wishes come true and Duvivier comes back, Eubanks doesn’t go to the NBA, Tres Tinkle stays healthy, Manuel doesn’t sit out too long for his misdemeanor, and our new recruits step up to help compete right away. Also, if all of my wishes come true what is the ceiling for this team?

Posted by Trumonkey

Mitch Heath: Okay well after Drew Eubanks and Stevie Thompson both declared for the draft I’m sure you probably got a little nervous. BUT don’t worry, neither of them got agents or are ready to go pro just yet. They both have aspirations of playing professionally, and it’s becoming increasingly common for players trying to make it to the NBA to test out the draft waters to get a better idea of the process and where they stand currently in the process. However, your other questions are a little less optimistic. This is the second year in a row that Tres Tinkle had an injury that ended his season early, and I am starting to wonder if his 100% injury rate is an indicator that maybe he has durability issues. I hate it so much. I know he’s so good. And his hair is perfect. But man he can’t stay healthy. Also Kendal Manuel hopefully won’t be all that big of a deal regardless of what happens with the pending charges. So far, the recruiting class is showing enough depth that Manuel will see limited minutes next year in the first place.

Marcus Russell: I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it’s extremely unlikely that all of your wishes come true. Between the uncertain statuses of Malcolm Duviver, Cheikh N’diaye (possible medical redshirt), Eubanks & Thompson (NBA draft) and Kendal Manuel (pending charges); Oregon State’s roster is very much in limbo. If all the chips fall the Beavers way they should be able to compete in the Pac-12 and AT LEAST double their win total from last season.

"How do you see the PAC-12 North faring in Football this upcoming season? What's the magic number to win the North?"

TJ: The Pac-12 North will be tough again this year. Stanford always finds a way to get 9-10 wins, UW returns Browning, Wazzu brings back Falk, OSU is improved, and Oregon should be better than last year. The only bad team is Cal, who may go winless in the Pac this year. I think it’s gonna take at least 10 wins to claim the north.

MR: Washington is going to be very very good again. Chris Petersen has turned that program around and I expect them to win 10 or 11 games next season. It will take 7-to-8 Pac-12 victories to win the North.

How do Beaver fans rank the Pac 12 schools as "favorites" to support when we're not rooting for Oregon State?

Thanks ... and Go Beavs!

-Curt

TJ: I don’t know that I can break it down 1-12, but I put the 12 teams into 5 tiers

Tier #1

Oregon State- Duh

Tier # 2- Teams I find myself rooting for as long as they aren’t playing OSU

• Stanford- Gotta respect a school whose dumbest kids are already smarter than I will ever be
• Washington State- They feel like the state of Washington’s version of OSU. Plus Mike Leach is near the same level of sanity as Gary Busey... and I love me some Gary Busey
• Colorado- They seem like the blueprint for the OSU football rebuild... Also they have a live buffalo on the sideline and now I want a live beaver on our sideline

Tier#3- Teams that stir no emotion for me. Could also be known as “tier meh”

Arizona, Arizona State, Utah & Cal

Tier #4- Teams I don’t like but will root for to support the Pac-12

• USC- Dear Trojan band... Learn a new song
• UCLA- The Rose Bowl is actually a garbage stadium
• UW- They were Oregon before Oregon was Oregon.. plus their baseball coach is a jackwagon.

Tier#5- Teams I would never ever ever ever root for... unless they play Baylor

Oregon- Actually if Oregon were to play Baylor I would root for a scoreless tie that never ends so no one leaves the stadium happy

MH: For me, I find myself mostly rooting against schools that have superiority complexes. I didn't go to Oregon State for my undergrad, but I did go to a state school. So I know that Oregon isn’t the only school that calls their in-state rival “little brother.” And for that reason, I hate schools like Colorado and Cal and UCLA and USC. But my exception to this rule is Washington, because the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?

▼QB?

Do you expect the 2017 QB play for the Beavers to be superior to 2016 and 2015?

Posted by leon0112

MH: This all depends on how good Jake Luton turns out to actually be. Anyone keeping up with the starting QB race knows that he’s somewhat the frontrunner. He started the Spring Game. I think to a certain extent, the starting job is his to lose come August. We already know what we’ve got with McMaryion and Garretson. It’s okay. I don’t think it’s going to get better through either of them. I miss you so much, Sean Mannion.

MR: I expect Oregon State’s QB play to improve in 2017. Here’s the combined passing statistics for the Beavers during the last two seasons.

2016: 2086 yards, 54.7%, 13 Touchdowns, 11 Interceptions

2015: 1909 yards, 46.9%, 10 Touchdowns, 11 Interceptions

Those are awful passing statistics for consecutive seasons. The coaching staff seems to be emphasizing a more spread out passing attack to help balance the offense, which should help improve those numbers. I’m holding out hope that Jake Luton will be a complete stud, but even a more experienced Marcus McMaryion will improve the Beavers QB play.

▼Schedule Change

How will the football schedule change affect the start of the season? We were suppose to start off the season at home against FCS Portland State, but now we’re going to start the season on the road against FBS Colorado State. I wonder if this will affect the momentum going into the season. But hey, I shouldn’t complain, with the switch up in the schedule I get to go to the game now!

Posted by 2008Beav

TJ: It definitely adds some more urgency to fall camp, instead of having an opening game that would likely be the equivalent of an exhibition game the stakes are high right off the bat. Personally I like it, I am not a fan of playing FCS schools at all, and this should give us a good idea of what Beaver Nation should look forward to the rest of the season. Have fun in Fort Collins, and I hope you give out a ton of high-fives.

MH: Mark my words: this is really bad. Colorado State has consistently made a bowl game and been one of the best teams in the Mountain West for several years now, producing talent annually. Between that, the altitude, the first game of the year, AND it being the first game in a brand new stadium, this is a recipe for disaster. The Pac-12 is already competitive enough, and at this point in our program’s journey, getting “easy” early season wins to pad our record and get back to a bowl game should be the goal. Any bowl will do. I prefer the Popeye’s Bowl, for obvious reasons.

TJ: Ok this is a really hard question for me, cause the obvious answer is no, but I do wear green at work so I can’t say never. That being said, I won’t pass judgment on people for wearing green as long as they don’t mix it with yellow, but let’s be honest, with all their uniform combos do the Ducks even know that green is one of their colors?

MH: Green is okay. Yellow is okay, black is okay, white is okay, silver is okay, navy blue is okay. Really all the colors are fine. Just don’t ever wear anything that says Ducks on it.

TJ: Great question Ethan... I will admit, I am not a religious person, so I do not know whether or not there is a scouting report on Jesus anywhere in the bible, but as we learned from Pedro Cerrano in Major League, Jesus Christ can’t hit a curveball. Meanwhile Nick Madrigal hits whatever the hell Nick Madrigal wants to hit, so I would lean closer to Babe Ruth. If I had to compare an OSU player to Jesus, it would be Max Engelbrekt, cause you know, Jesus saves.

MH: Jesus was a carpenter, so he mostly played in wood bat summer ball leagues which makes it hard to evaluate talent. But based on His intangibles, grit, and heart, I would say He and Nick Madrigal are comparable.